Method of making an armature



April 12, 1932.

V. G. APPLE METHOD OF MAKING AN ARMATURE Original Filed June 28. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.4; Fig-5.

4; 5 Fig; S7. Z2 I g 20 4 5 2? Fig.5. Fi -7. Z5

April 12, 1932. v. G. APPLE METHOD OF MAKING AN ARMATURE 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 Original Filed June 28, 1927 Patented Apr. 12, 1932 PATENT OFFlCE VINCENT G. APPLE, OF DAYTON, OHIO METHOD OF MAKING AN ARMATURE Original application filed'June 28, 1927', Serial No. 202,139. Divided and this application filed March 24, 1930. Serial I10. 138,516.

This invention is a division of my copending application Serial No. 202,139, filed June 28th,1-927, which has since matured into Pat-- entNo.1,775,633,dated September 16th, 1930 and relates to improvements in that type or". armature which comprises a core, a bar winding and a commutator, and the objects of my improvements are, first, to provide a structure' wherein the commutator is an integral part of the winding; second, to provide de tails of construction whereby the stock from which the winding bars are made is used with minimum waste and third, to produce an article that is more durable and depend- 35- able and of better appearance than when made by present methods.

Further objects will be apparent from the detailed description whenrei'erence is made to the-drawings, wherein Fig. 1 shows how a length of bar stock may be notched and cut apart so that each part comprises a commutator lug and a conductor bar.

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken at 2-2 of Fig. 1.

.Fig. 3 shows how the two parts shown in Fig. 1 are reassembled.

Fig. 1 isa cross section taken at 14 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken at 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig, 6 is an end view of Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 shows how the notching shown in Fig. 1 may be eliminated by substituting spot .5 welding.

Fig. 8 isa perspective view of one unit of my winding.

Fig. 9 is another way of assembling the parts shown in Fig. 8.

40 Fig l-shows an armature core lamina having acommon type of core slot particularly suited to my invention.

Fig. 11 shows a complete set of winding units-Fig. 8 assembled in the order in which they will eventually be arranged in the armature.

i'Fig.'.12'shows the assembly Fig. 11 after a core of insulation has been molded about the commutator segmentsand between and about 20 the diagonallyzbentportions of the bars.

Fig. 13 shows the structure Fig. 12 assembled. in a core composed of laminae Fig. 10, the free ends of the winding units extending beyond the core.

Fig. 11 shows how the free ends are bent diagonally to complete the turns.

Fig. 15 shows completed armature.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

For clearness in the following description a conductor bar so located relative to the coinmutaior lug as to occupy a position in the outer layer of the completed winding may be referred to as an outer conductor bar and a conductor bar so located as to occupy a position in the inner layer may be referred to as an inner conductor bar.

In Fig. 1 a length of bar stock, preferably copper, has been notched as at and 20 and separated into two parts, the one part comprising a commutator lug 22 and an inner conductor bar 23, the other part comprising a commutator lug 24 and an outer conductor bar 25.

In Fig. 2 I show a cross section through a length of bar stock suitable for making the parts shown in Fig. 1, and it will be seen that the sides of the bar are inclined towards each other, forming what is commonly called a wedge shaped cross section. Bar stock of this form is readily obtainable, as it is commercially produced in varying wedge angles for use in making commutators of the conventional type.

After the length of stock has been separated as shown in Fig. 1 the one part may be turned end for end and the two commutator lugs 22 and lplaced side by side leaving the two conductor bars 23 and 25 extend aarallel to each other, although not in the same plane, the cross section Fig. 4 showing how the lugs :22 and 2 1 thus form a composite outline suitable for a commutator segment and the cross section Fig. 5 showing the relative position of the conductor bars 23 and 25.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I show another length ofbar stock which has been cut apart in the same manner as that shown in Fig. 1, but which has not been notched at the ends as at 20 and 20.. .After. the one part has been turned end V for end and laid alongside the other part, the

two commutator lugs 26 and 27 are spot welded together, and the welding bits are allowed to make deep depressions, as at 28, 28, etc. into which a commutator segment holding means consisting of molded insulating material may afterwards extend to bind the segments together into a commutator.

In Fig. 8 I show the two parts of a winding unit with commutator lugs 22 and. 24 placed adjacent to each other and the inner conductor bar 23 displaced in one direction and positioned to occupy the inner half of a core slot and the outer conductor bar 25 displaced in the other direction and positioned to occupy the outer half of another core slot. The conductor bars may be displaced equals amounts from their commutator lugs or they may be displaced the one more than the other, so long as the total spread between a bar 23 and a bar 25 is sufficient to compose a turn of the winding which is usually about one pole pitch. The lugs 22 and 24 may be brazed, welded or otherwise joined together either before or after the conductor bars are spread apart, or I may depend on the means afterwards employed for binding the whole commutator together to hold the pairs of lugs in contact, one with another, to provide electrical connect-ion therebetween. Fig. 9 shows how the bent portions 31 and 32 of the bars 23 and 25 may be crossed if desired to achieve a result slightly different but equally as eflective as that shown in Fig. 8. For clearness in description I will hereinafter refer to two commutator lugs that have been assembled as in Figs. 8 or 9 as a commutator seg ment.

The winding apertures or slots of armature cores vary considerably in contour and proportion, a form much employed being shown in Fig. 10 at 33, 33, etc. The sides of these slots are radial, so obviously the sides of the intervening teeth 34 and 34 are also radial. A slot and a tooth as here shown are, circumferentially, about of equal thickness. Winding units made from wedge shaped stock and formed as in Figs. 8 or 9 are particularly adaptable to slots of this type since a composite commutator segment, composed of a lug 22 and a lug 24, is substantially equal, circumferentially, to a slot 33 and a. tooth 34: together, which fulfills a condition required in providing a commutator of substantially the same diameter as the outside diameter of the winding.

A suitable number of the winding units, each substantially as shown in Fig. 8, are assembled in cylindrical formation as shown in Fig. 11. Insulating spacers, 36, 36, etc. may separate the several commutator segments but must not be placed between any two lugs composing a segment.

After assembly as in Fig. 11, the winding is placed in a mold, the conductor bars 23 and 25, but not the bent portions 31 and 32, having pockets within the mold into which they extend. The mold is then closed, and a flu-id insulating material is poured or pumped into the mold and hardened or allowed to harden by heat or otherwise to form a mass of solid insulating material which extends between and surrounds the bent portions 31 and 32 of the bars as at 4:1, and extends through the inside of the commutator as at 41a to engage the notched portions 20 and 20 of the segments to bind the commutator together, leaving the commutator segments exposed at their outer diameter to form a track upon which brushes may bear.

Instead of using the spacers of insulating material as at 36, 36 etc. between commutator segment-s, I may provide metal spacers as part of the mold to extend from the outside of the commutator between the segment a small distance, sufficient only to keep the segments spaced apart. The remainder of the space between segments will then fill with the insulating material when it fills the mold, and, after a mold having such metal spacers is removed, the commutator will have open space between the segments, extending a limited distance from the outside of the commutator bars toward the axis of the commutator. A commutator having such space between segments is known to the art as being undercut, and is considered of great advantage when relatively hard brushes are to be used thereon.

The structure shown in Fig. 12 is substantially a complete commutator having a winding integrally extending therefrom, the conductor bars 23 and 25 of which may be endwise entered through the slots of a core 35 with the free ends extending considerably beyond the core as shown in Fig. 13, after which the free ends of the bars may be simultaneously bent, the inner bars in one direction and the outer bars in the other di rection, to form appropriate pairs as shown at 49, Fig. 14. The pairs may be then joined by brazing, welding, or otherwise, welding being an approved method, a pair so welded being shown at 40, Fig. 15, which is a completed armature made by my method.

In my copending application Serial No. 438,515, filed March 24th, 1930, which is, like the present application, a division of my application Serial No. 202,139, now Patent No. 1,775,633, I claim the method of making a winding loop such as is herein shown and described. I therefore confine the claims in the present application to the method of making the complete armature, which differs from any method heretofore proposed in that a commutator having winding bars integral is first made as a separate unit independently of the armature core, and afterwards assembled with the armature core.

I claim- 1. The method of making a two layer bar Wound armature, which consists of providing a plurality of winding loops, each comprising a conductor bar of the outer layer, a circumferentially spaced apart conductor bar of the inner layer, and a commutator segment, assembling the loops in cylindrical formation, applying a binding means to the segments to compose a commutator thereof, endwise entering the extending rows of conductor bars through the winding apertures until they extend through and beyond the core, appropriately bending the extending ends and joining them to complete the circuit. 2. The method of making a two layer bar Wound armature, which consists of providing a plurality of winding loops, each comprising a conductor bar of the outer layer, a circumferentially spaced apart conductor bar of the inner layer, and a commutator segment joined to the bars by suitable leads, assembling the loops in cylindrical formation molding insulating material about the said segments and leads to form a commutator of the segments and leaving the bars extending in two concentric rows, endwise entering the extending rows of conductor bars through the winding apertures until they extend through and be-- yond the core, appropriately bending the extending ends and joining them to complete the circuit.

3. The method of making a two layer bar wound armature comprising an apertured core and a winding composed of a plurality of winding loops each consisting of a con-- ductor bar of one layer, a parallel spaced apart conductor bar of the other layer and a commutator segment joined to said bars 4U by diagonal leads which are integral portions of said bars, which consists of assembling a plurality of said loops in the cylindrical formation which they Will ultimately occupy in the core, molding insulation between and around the ends of the commutator segments and between and about the diagonal leads, leaving the conductor bars extending in two concentric rows, endwise entering the extending rows of bars into the fit? core apertures until the ends extend through and beyond, circumferentially displacing the extending ends to bring the ends of bars of one layer radially over the ends of widely spaced apart bars of the other layer and join- 5 ing the radially adjacent ends to complete the Winding circuit.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

VINCENT G. APPLE. 

